Amazon's new, slimmed-down Kindle devices are notable for several things, not the least of which are the upgrades to their experimental WebKit browser. It's faster and easier to navigate, says Amazon, and its new "article mode" feature extracts the main text-based content from Web pages for easier reading. Free Web browsing with Kindle over 3G or WiFi is also part of the package, thanks to a new beta program. With the addition of such capabilities, Amazon appears to be bringing the Kindle at least a baby step closer to tablet-like functionality.

Amazon generated $1bln in mobile device sales over the last year-presumably eBooks bought using Kindle+the Kindle reader contributed significantly. Time will tell on how the new Kindle will perform. Amazonís philosophy has always been on repeat purchases-a great blog on this is http://bit.ly/bP6GsR

Try sitting on a beach reading a book on an iPad. It's too heavy, the battery doesn't last, and the screen gets washed-out. The Kindle should not try to be an everything device. Also remember the 3G cellular connection is free. If we could use it for more things, Amazon would have to charge us.